I came to Australia on 14th of March, 2019. It took a huge fortune to get here with hopes to return all of it with the education I would get at university. I am the only son of my parents who put everything at stake just to provide me quality education and a better life.
As a student from the third world, life is just like walking through a hot fry pan in the pursuit of an education at uni. There are so many obligations to abide by and compulsion to make a living. We depend on part-time/casual work to get by daily needs like rent, travel and other living expenses including university fee.
Life was harder even without pandemic now it has become worse for students from the third world. The government assumes students are well funded for their studies which is not true mostly. Students depend on part-time or casual work which now almost doesn’t exist and students have no money to even carry out their basic living expenses. Some of my friends say they haven’t paid rent for 3 months and they have been living under the kindness of the landlord. I don’t think every landlord would be kind like these ones. Some of my friends even don’t have credit to make phone calls to their parents at the time when they are desolate and abandoned and they need some encouragement.
Students have been through the most hardship of their life while university seems to be so cruel and ignorant of this fact. They email every week asking for fees for next semester and they send anxiety relief technique after that email — what irony! Sometimes I think they are not human or they don’t know human feeling and pain. I hold the University accountable for causing great depression and anxiety on students. It is so deep and has wounded many mentally. They offer a hardship relief fund but they impose a condition saying you must enrol next semester paying thousands of dollars. How could they expect us to be paying thousands of dollars while we are applying for a hardship fund for a couple hundred dollars? Are they that much stupid? But they are running a uni. Is uni offering quality education as they advertise this, because they seem so stupid in simple matters of life.
Most of my friends got fired from permanent jobs while they need it most. How could they fire students from work when they have no other options to get a job. Many students working under permanent part-time jobs have been living in constant fear of losing their jobs and sometimes it really depresses us down till the point of hopelessness. Lack of compassion in people really hurts me and which is revealing these days like no other time in history.
Life as international students feels like life without human rights and there seem to be on one to support and solace painful heart. C’mon people! Have some love and kindness for students who are from the third world and any other part of the world. We need some support, some love, some kindness. I think that will keep us alive through this crisis.
By Paul K C
The Coburg Meddler 